Lat pulldowns (and other lat exercises)

[Scrumhalf]

My lats are lagging, so I am trying to make sure I am doing lat pulldowns correctly to get the maximum benefit.

My question is how far (if any) to lean back and do the pull downs. I have seen everything from sitting essentially with a vertical back and doing front pulldowns to leaning back at close to 45 degrees and pulling down to the chest. Which is the most effective form to get maximum benefit.

Also, what are other exercises to complement pulldowns. Currently, I do seated cable rows and one-arm dumbbell rows, concentrating on trying to pull with the lats instead of the arms. However, I am not getting a satisfactory pumped feeling that I get with other body parts.

Any help is appreciated!

[beefcake]

Try some weighted pullups. On pulldowns I always keep my back angled back a bit and just stay that way the whole time as I pull down.

[Bouncer]

angled just a bit back and pull down about about 2 inches away from chest squeeze at the bottom.

[NYCmitch25]

good execersise but i would do these for mass your looking for...

deadlifts and heavy w8t'd chinups (not too wide) bb bent rows

[liftsiron]

My main exercise for back width and mass has always been pulldowns to the front with moderate to very heavy weight. Bent over barbell rows are also very good. I get more trap work with deadlifts than lat work.

[Shibby]

I had trouble with lats for a long time. What it came down to was I was pulling too much through my arms and shoulders. Pretend there is like a tennis ball in the middle of you back that you are trying to squeeze and see if that helps.

[redback]

you see so many guys going way to heavy on pulldowns, they lean way to far back to get the bar down. You dont need to go that heavy. Go lighter and dont lean back so far and you will get a much better pump directly in the lats

[Bouncer]

I had trouble with lats for a long time. What it came down to was I was pulling too much through my arms and shoulders. Pretend there is like a tennis ball in the middle of you back that you are trying to squeeze and see if that helps.

very good tip.

[Scrumhalf]

Cool, thanks for all the advice, guys!

[Control]

Here's a tip (but you need a spotter):

Forced negatives. Have your partner help you pull down a weight you couldn't do on your own, so if you can do 250, set the stack at 300. Let the weight up on your own, resisting for about 3 seconds. do 15-20 reps.

Also, what grip are you using? That super-wide grip doesn't make your lats super-wide, it just limits the amount of weight you can use (and limits you ROM). The lats are big muscle and you need heavy weight to make them grow. Choose the grip that enables you to lift the heaviest weight.

[NYCmitch25]

^hey was up homie, hows it going?


good point glad someone finally said it

[liftsiron]

Here's a tip (but you need a spotter):

Forced negatives. Have your partner help you pull down a weight you couldn't do on your own, so if you can do 250, set the stack at 300. Let the weight up on your own, resisting for about 3 seconds. do 15-20 reps.

Also, what grip are you using? That super-wide grip doesn't make your lats super-wide, it just limits the amount of weight you can use (and limits you ROM). The lats are big muscle and you need heavy weight to make them grow. Choose the grip that enables you to lift the heaviest weight.

Very good advice!!!!!!!

[gdbear65]

I've found that staying close to vertical, keeping my elbows directly under the bar and pulling with my elbows close to my sides works well. I also find that squeezing the scapulae together at the bottom of the ROM helps. V-grip and wide-grip seated rows hit my lats pretty good too. And recently, on the advice of one of the bigger guys at my gym I started doing bent rows on a slanted smith machine - once I got the angle right I could feel my lats working pretty hard.

[Scrumhalf]

I followed a lot of the advice in this thread, especially the ones about dropping down a bit in weight and making sure of pulling with the lats (vs. the shoulders and arms) and concentrating on squeezing at the bottom of the ROM and it made a BIG difference. I got a good pump in the lats and I can still feel it 18 hours later.

Plus, I remembered to get my wrist straps from home and went heavy on shrugs (my grip usually fails long before my traps when I don't wear wrist straps). All in all, a killer back workout yesterday!

Control, thanks for your inputs as well. I'll play around with the grips to see how it feels the next time I do back.

[Mr I]

angled just a bit back and pull down about about 2 inches away from chest squeeze at the bottom.

Listen to this , really squeze the muscle, you'll see plenty of people using too much weight and yanking. Some people get into a groove that is right for them with some movement and a little more weight than they can do with strict form and it works for them, Dennis Wolfe looks like one example.

But to get the right feel you should go back to very strict, drop the weight and really control the movement and really squeeze at the bottom without momentum. This is hard to do at first and trust me you'll have to drop the weight you normally use and it will hurt, I'd say 12 reps would be right for 3 sets, shoulder width over hand just where the bar starts to camber.